When most people head to the hairdressers they end up walking out with shorter hair. Zoe Foster-Blake did the opposite. She went to Edwards & Co in Melbourne and had her lovely short ‘do made, well, longer. And no, extensions were not involved.
We’re witnessing hair wizardry here, people.
A photo posted by ZOË FOSTER BLAKE (@zotheysay) on May 16, 2016 at 8:02pm PDT
“Hair by Lauren M can cut hair LONG which is what I asked her to do today, and she bloody did it,” wrote Foster-Blake alongside the results on Instagram.
Lo and behold, her usual just-below-the-ear lob was grazing her shoulders. But how? What magic is this? From the sounds of it some hair TLC, serious expertise and a little bit of magic were involved.
Foster-Blake shared some of the process on her Snapchat: Image: Snapchat/Zingus
"I thiiink it's a combination of optical trickery, straightening up/thickening up the ends and removing any shitty, straggy layers," she continued.
"But I also have a hunch she uses witchcraft cos I saw a big cauldron in the cupboard and a newt jumped out of her pocket while she applied my tint."
Hermione Granger, eat your heart out.
According to the hair wizard Lauren Mackellar herself, the optical illusion lies in the ends of your hair.
"To make hair look longer, it's important to keep the ends of the hair looking blunt, rather than adding more layers or cutting into the baseline which makes it feel shorter. They visually make the hair look fuller and denser, by giving the haircut more strength to the shape,meaning that the eye is drawn down to the ends, making it look long," she says.
Watch: Edwards and Co stylist Byron Turnbull shares his secret to getting the best haircut everytime. Post continues after video.
It's also about knowing where to cut and where to leave.
"Yesterday with Zoe I worked on making the baseline of the cut look really fresh and clean by getting rid of any wispy ends. Even though you're taking off a tiny bit of precious length, visually the hair appears thicker, stronger and longer," she says.
The underneath of Foster-Blake's hair was then blowdried to keep it flat at the roots, the ends straightened to keep it looking long and the top area blowdried without a nozzle to keep it looking full and voluminous.
"Zoe and I started using the term 'cutting it long' when she would come in needing a trim but determined to not lose any length that had grown in between visits," explains Mackellar.(Post continues after gallery.)
"I think everyone who has ever attempted to grow their hair out can relate to feeling so frustrated when they leave the hairdresser feeling defeated and back to where they started after asking for a small trim, but getting too much cut off.
"With strategic trimming and shaping, the hair still gets a tidy up but actually appears to have grown."
It's a nice change from the coy celebrity 'look how fast my hair grew!' snaps we're used to seeing (we're looking at you, Khloe Kardashian) and good news for short-haired girls who want something easy, immediate and not extensions.
Also major props to Foster-Blake for nailing the 'what do I wear to sit in a chair for hours that is stylish yet comfortable' dilemma with her ASOS White tracksuit onesie. (Yes, you read that right.)
Two hours later. Image: Snapchat/Zingus
Image: Instagram/@zotheysay
See more from Lauren on Instagram at @hairbylaurenm or @theloop_withlaurenandkirby.
Have you ever had your hair cut 'long'?
